Having created a signature sound, one of stark minimalism and spacious atmosphere, “Venon-Laced Tears” sees Antoin Gibson taking that delicate and delicious sound and adding to it to create something fuller, fiercer. And whilst the additional sonic weight is perhaps physically imperceptible, its presence is certainly felt.
If previous singles have felt more like drifting soundscapes punctuated with salvos of energy, here, a bustling, cool, and condensed robotic beat is almost a constant. We are still in that shaded realm where darkwave-infused pop fuses with the fringes of alternative rock… with more than a nod to the underground nightclub, but here groove is added to the grace and the song drives rather than relying on gossamer sonic wings to power it through.
If “Dead End” was the musical description of someone burning out, “Venom-Laced Tears” is the sound of the fight back, the realization that what you learn from such dark chapters is how to weaponize the experience and turn the knowledge into power.
As always, Antoin Gibson‘s vocals hold the listener’s attention, sweeping from the whispered to the powerful, the intimate to the universal. It is also a reminder that you don’t need to employ a mass of sound to build impact; the occasional punch coming out of the silence is much more effective than any relentless, over-the-top onslaught. Less, as they say, is more, and here is the proof.
Gibson continues on their quest to entrance and inform, and here there is plenty of cool contemplation at work, but there is also the suggestion that you can do that on the chilled, early hours dancefloor of the most discerning nightclub in town.
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